


Deaths

by marikunin



Series: Sehnsucht [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Canon Autistic Character, Canon Character of Color, Canon Disabled Character, Modern Era, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:39:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9148981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marikunin/pseuds/marikunin
Summary: Avatars have died in many ways.





	

_Avatars_ , Mary ponders while basking in the autumn sun, _have died in many ways_.

Spiritual training to master the Avatar State has been going slow but steady. At the time betwen sleeping and waking, Mary feels memories passing over like water. The teachers and many books both say that the current Avatar is both connected to their past lives, and yet separate from each one as an individual soul. 

It is easy to start with the most recent Avatar.

“Watch how the Cycle has reentered the world,” Enkhtuya says, “And learn.”

The Air Avatar stands before Mary, in a Mongolian shepherd hat and long robes, mostly orange and yellow and brown. Mary wonders what there is to learn from watching a bunch of people die, but by then they are already underneath the tide.

~  
  
Enkhtuya is with Osol, hands intertwined. She’s with a White Lotus guard, a newswoman, and her brother Arghun. The car is pleasantly cool, and for once Enkhtuya isn’t worrying about her status as the Avatar. She’s mastered the Avatar State, and Osol is by her side. She smiles at Osol, who blushes and reminds Enkhtuya why she fell in love with her in the first place. She’s just about to lean in for a kiss, when the driver of their car honks. They swerve.

Airbenders across the world celebrate the return of autumn and the leaves changing colors. Its their season. More airbenders are born in the fall than in any other season, though obviously airbenders can be born at other times. Her parents would celebrate by cooking lots of food and her siblings by dancing with the wind in order to pile the leaves together in huge piles to jump in.  
  
Enkhtuya had been looking forward to watching the leaves change as a fully realized Avatar reunited with her family.

She doesn’t make it to the autumnal equinox.

~  
  
Deepak doesn’t die due to an assassination, or in defense of people, or even of natural causes. He dies due to a piece of lamb curry stuck in his windpipe. 

He’s in his 50s, waiting for his daughter and son-in-law to come with their own children. He is pondering over how they have yet to decide whether to have their daughter is to be educated in the White Lotus run school in New Delhi, or to go to the local school that her parents went to when he swallows wrong. Everything becomes too clear and detailed as Deepak tries to give himself the heimlich. It takes all too short a time for him to start seeing spots.

Firebenders in India use their bending to honor the gods. He sees the statue of Ganesha just in the next room. As his bonds to this world begin to slip, the statue becomes less and less like a statue. He rises to meet the god he’s adored since childhood.

By the time his wife Priya has returned from the market, Deepak is already gone.

~

Amparo doesn’t notice his drink’s been poisoned until its too late.

He’s just left a meeting with some world leaders. As usual he has to struggle to be heard. It is such a huge contrast compared to when he meets governors and mayors of little towns. At least the White Lotus pays for his expenses, once he comes out into the open. His lover- _husband_ , his mind whispers, _he should be your husband_ -has already gotten home. 

Hugo talks animatedly about how the market had some good deals on lucuma today, and that a new shipment of tumbo should come in next week. Yet again, there’s a gift basket from someone in the community as thanks for his service as the Avatar. Amparo always cheers up when he sees one of them in his doorway. It makes him feel like he’s really making a difference, even if it’s a small one.

After praying to the Blessed Virgin Amparo takes a bite of one of the alfajores and feels fine. Then his body seizes up, his mouth begins to foam and he topples over.

The last thing he hears is Hugo screaming his name.

~

Tsunako isn’t even that old. She’s leaving the local shrine having asked the kami for a good new year. The Meiji Revolution has only ended about a year before and she still worries that unrest will come again. She tried her best to keep Japan in control but what was Japan to the rest of the world? It turned out that it was rather small, at least where her Avatar duties were concerned. Despite remaining celibate (neither romance nor sex have ever really interested her) she still feels like she could do more.

The snow is falling lightly in little fluffs that melt upon contact with Tsunako’s kimono. She remembers playing in the snow just a few decades before, before she knew she was the Avatar. Life had been carefree then, but Tsunako preferred the present. She knew what her life was destined for, and didn’t have to resign herself to the hum drum life of a farmer.

Tsunako knows that her family is happy in their lives though, and doesn’t begrudge them of it. She steps off of the curb in order to cross the street.

There is the sound of wheels on stone, a horse crying out in alarm and the briefest flash what could turn in white hot pain.

And then Tsunako is forced to let go.

~

Ahurewa is very lucky. He knows this.

He is surrounded by friends, family and White Lotus members while on his deathbed. He’s in his 90s, and despite being found by the White Lotus in his fifties, Ahurewa knows he’s done good considering. His wife has already gone to the afterlife before him, and he wonders.

A great grandson of his holds his hand, and Ahurewa marvels at how soft and small it is compared to his own. Was he really once that young? It seems so long ago. And yet…he can still remember playing on the beach while his father and older brothers caught fish, the light on the sand just as bright as it is now.

Knowing that the White Lotus will look out for his reincarnation, Ahurewa goes in peace.

~  
  
Joseph is over 100 when he dies.

Like his future reincarnation, Joseph was extermely lucky at least in that respect. He’s married, fathered children, and watched grandchildren and even great grandchildren come into being. The sun is just rising over the hill. He had heard of unrest in Paris- _there is always unrest in Paris these days_ -and lamented that he was too old to go. Joseph felt fine. His bending gave him strength that no one else had. 

But he just got over that bout of food poisoning a few weeks ago, and…no. He has to focus on the positive. Joseph decides to watch the sunrise. The light slowly moving across the walls of his home through the window bathe it in a way that he hasn’t really appreciated until now. He marvels at the Lord’s creation, and thanks Him for being able to see it.

Joseph’s inner fire seems to turn into an inferno as the sun finally comes up, and he turns to find Avatar-Queen Nzingha in green robes and crown.

He takes his predecessor’s hand.

~  
  
In Matamba, a baby girl is born with the oldest of souls.


End file.
